Airplane



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M o. w Z W SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

1 Y LINTEICU, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- EIGHTH T0 JULIA E. GSCOCK AND ONE-EIGHTH T0 Application filed September as, 1921. Serial No. 503,190.

To all whomitma concern:

Be it known t at 1, WILLIAM DRAKELY LINTHICUM, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of the cit of Seattle, in the county of King and tate of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airplanes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to air planes and consists of an airplane having certain features whereby its construction is simplified and whereby its operation upon new principles may be secured.

One ob ect of my invention is to provide a machine wherein a certain part of the weight thereof .may be adjusted in a foreand-aft direction to thereby affect the angle of the sustaining planes and thus control the upward and downward inclination of the course.

A further object of my invention is to provide a central body as a base from which the sustaining planes spring, which body will have, at least approximately, a stream line form having plane surfaces disposed to revent side slip.

ther objects of my invention will be disclosed in the following descri tion and particularly pointed out in the c aims.

In the accompanying drawings I have 11- lustrated an embodiment of my invention.

Figure 1 is an upper plan view of an airplane made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same machine.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of this ma.- chine.

Figure et is a side view, with sections broken out, showing on a larger scale the adjustable nacelle and the manner of giving a relative fore-and-aft movement there- The air lane illustrated has a central elongated body from which spring the sustaining planes 2, the planes of the wmgs being joined to said central body along its central horizontal plane. These sustaining planes extend throughout the length of this central body and beyond the same at the rear. The greatest extent of these planes is from front to rear. Towards the front, as at 20, they are of maximum width, their outer edges drawing inward to their minimum width at about the rear end of the central body forming a neck 21, and rearwardly of this widening as at 22, forming a shape much resembling that of a fish tail. At the rear end of this is or may be pivoted a horizontal rudder 3 of standard type.

The central body 1 I prefer to make of a diamond cross section with a major axis placed vertical and a minor axis horizontal and. to have the sustainin' planes joined thereto along the apex of e angles at its sides.

i This body tapers from a point, as 11, well forwardly of the center of its length, towards each end, thus forming an approximation to a stream line shape having outer plane surfaces. These plane surfaces are J, LYON, BOTH 0F important in preventing side slip and the ture fixed rigidly to and beneath the sustaining planes, has as a characteristic feature guide rails extending in a fore-and-aft direction and located beneath the central body 1. Such rails are indicated at 4. At the forward ends of these rails is mounted the engine and the propeller 50. The engine is supposed to be within the casing 5. Two laterally separated ide rails 4 are shown, between which isp aced a structure which will herein be referred to as a nacelle. This is an enclosed body 6, which is designed to accommodate the operator, any passengers carried, and control mechanisms. This nacelle has guides, as rollers 60, which engage the guideways or rails 4, to support t e nacelle and to guide it in foreand-aft movements. The nacelle and the guideways of the fuselage are thus held to prevent an relative movement except in a. fore-and-a direction.

Suitable means are provided to control the relative fore-and-aft position of the fusela of which the rails 4 are a part, and o the nacelle, and to provide means for changing the relative fore-and-aft positions nacelle, and occupies a groove in the nut,

edges of the planes, thus causin so that the nut may freely turn. lhe reverse construction in which the nut is held a ainst turning and the shaft turns, may be adopted and hascertain advantages of coniii bl r1 (1' +h suita e ty 0 an in ear, as c e wheefs 8 and the s lrid may be adopted.

In operation it'is designed that the vertical control of the airplane be secured largel by fore-ancL-aft shifting of the center 0 gravity of the nacelle and its contents relative to the sustaining planes. Shifting of this weight forwardly will cause a shiftin of the angle of the p anes to depress their front edges and shifting of this weight rearwardly will depress the rear a correspondingmupward or downward line of flight. e rudders 3 are provided for sup plemental or optional use.

Birds in soaring flight, control this flight by shifting the angle of their wing surfaces relative to the direction of flight. It is an object of my invention to secure a construc tion in which substantially the same thing may be done. I have, however, adopted the expedient of shifting the weight relative to the angle of the sustaining planes, which results in shifting the angle 0 the planes relative to the line of fii' ht. By suitable control of this angle to con orm to the air currents and the velocity of movement, soaring flight is obtainable.

The power plant of the airplane illustrated in the accompanying drawings is necessary in starting a flight and quickly acquiring elevation. It is, however, contemplated that when elevation is secured the engine will be stopped and soaring flight secured by proper adjustment of the wing angles through fore-and-aft shifting of the weight of the nacelle, together with periods of descending glides by which velocity is attained alternating with upward inclines against the wind by which elevation is acquired. But slight variations in the disposition of the movable weight, and only comparatively light shifting weights are required to effect such control. Too great a shifting Weight may cause too abrupt angular deviations, and is moreover quite dificult to handle and control. The use of a lightweight nacelle, carrying only the pilot and ntranet passenger, and the controls, will be found amply suficient for efl'ecting the desired changes, and will be found to be much more sensitive and simple to control than a heavier nacelle, or one which supports the engine, propeller, and like parts. It is for this reason'that l have supported the engine in a casing, 5, which is separate from the shifting nacelle 6, and which is rigidly fixed'to the fuselage 4.

lln-the desi of the present invention care should be ta en to balance air resistances, not only of laterally-spaced elements, but of superposed elements. If the air resistance of the body 1 varies greatly from that of the fuselage and nacelle suspended therebeneath, there will result an instability tending to cause the airplane either to rise or to dive abruptly, pivoting on a line 'oining the centers of pressure of the individual wings 2. l have therefore so proportioned the body 1 that it offers substantially the same resistance in moving through the air as the fuselage, including the casing 5, and the nacelle 6 combined. In this manner the tendency towards instability is overcomei,

' and the equilibrium of the airplane is indee enhanced, by reason of the suspension of its center of gravity well below its general center of pressure. Taken in connection with the means for longitudinally shifting the relative positions of the center of pressure and the center of gravity, there is thus provided an airplane of marked stability and ease of control. lit is in fact so easy of control as to make it, except when climbing rapidl to a desired altitude, practically indepen ent of its motor.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An airplane having sustaining planes, a fuselage fixed relative to said planes and adapted for carrying a' propelling power plant, a nacelle mounted in said fuselage for relative fore-and-aft movement, and means controllable from the nacelle for moving sail? nacelle forwardly and rearwardly at W1 2. An airplane having a fuselage and a nacelle, one having guide wa s and the other complemental guides for relative fore-andaft movement, a fore-and-aft rod connecting fuselage and nacelle and having a threaded MID section, a nut mounted upon the threaded section, said rod and nut being secured, one

to the fuselage and one to the nacelle, and means for securing relative rotation of nut and rod to thereby cause and control relative fore-and-aft movement between fuselage and nacelle.

lar est transverse measurements of thecentra body are forwardly of the center of its length and rearwardly of its forward-end.

5. An airplane as in claim 3 in which the greater diagonal of the diamond shaped section is vertical.

6. A monoplane having an elongated central body and sustaining lanes substantially bisecting said body engthwise, and a fuselage sus ended beneath said body.

7. A monop ane having an elongated hollow central body and sustaining planes extendin lengthwise at each side of and substantia 1y bisecting said body, and a fuselage suspended from said body.

8. An airplane having an elongated hollow body of diamond-shaped cross section along each of three perpendicular intersecting planes, the transverse plane being located adjacent its forward end, susta1ning planes extending lengthwise thereof and substantially conforming in outline with the and a body surrounding said longitudinal axis, and of air resistance substantially equal to the air resistance of said supporting frame.

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washington, this 21 day of September, 1921.

WILLIAM DRAKELY UNTHiCUM.

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